Transfer of measurement data related to physical exercise

ABSTRACT

A system for processing heart rate measurement data measured during a physical exercise of a user. The system includes a server computer configured to: associate, during a registration procedure for a measurement device of a user, a device identifier of the measurement device with a user account of the user stored in the server computer; receive a device identifier and real-time heart rate measurement data over a network connection; identify the user&#39;s measurement device from the received device identifier; and store the received heart rate measurement data to the user account of the user on the basis of the association between the received device identifier and the corresponding user account.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to International Application No.GB1213823.6, filed 3 Aug. 2012, and International Application No.GB1220154.7, filed 8 Nov. 2012, which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The invention relates to the field of physical exercise devices and,particularly, to transfer of exercise data to a network storage.

2. Description of the Related Art

Modern physical exercise devices typically comprise measurement unitscomprising sensors attachable to a user's body and user interfacedevices. A measurement unit measures exercise data from the user's bodyand transmit to a user interface unit for display to the user during anexercise. The user interface unit may also comprise an input/outputinterface to store the measured exercise data to a network storage, e.g.a computer or a server, after the exercise.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect, there is provided a system for processing heartrate measurement data measured during a physical exercise of a user, thesystem comprising a server computer comprising at least one processorand at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein theat least one memory and the computer program code are configured, withthe at least one processor, to cause the server computer to: associate,during a registration procedure for a measurement device of a user, adevice identifier of the measurement device with a user account of theuser stored in the server computer; receive a device identifier andreal-time heart rate measurement data over a network connection;identify the user's measurement device from the received deviceidentifier; and store the received heart rate measurement data to theuser account of the user on the basis of the association between thereceived device identifier and the corresponding user account, whereinthe system further comprises and equipment interface unit arranged tocommunicate with the server computer over the network connection andwith said measurement device over a wireless connection, to receive fromthe measurement device, the device identifier of the measurement device,a network address of the server computer, and heart rate measurementdata, and to forward the heart rate measurement data and the deviceidentifier of the measurement device over the network connection to theserver computer having the network address.

According to another aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising:a wireless interface configured to provide a wireless device-to-deviceconnection with a measurement device; a network interface configured toprovide the apparatus with a network connection; at least one processor;and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein theat least one memory and the computer program code are configured, withthe at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to: receive, from ameasurement device attachable to the user's body at a beginning of anexercise carried out by a user, a device identifier of the measurementdevice, a network address of a server computer, and heart ratemeasurement data; and cause the network interface to transmit the deviceidentifier and the heart rate measurement data through the networkconnection to the network address of the server computer, wherein theserver computer uses the device identifier to store the heart ratemeasurement data to a correct user account.

According to another aspect, there is provided a method for processingheart rate measurement data measured during a physical exercise of auser, the method comprising: associating, in a server computer during aregistration procedure for a measurement device of a user, a deviceidentifier of the measurement device with a user account of the userstored in the server computer; receiving, in the server computer, adevice identifier and real-time heart rate measurement data over anetwork connection; identifying, in the server computer, the user'smeasurement device from the received device identifier; receiving, in anequipment interface unit over a wireless connection with the measurementdevice, the device identifier of the measurement device, a networkaddress of the server computer, and heart rate measurement data,forwarding the heart rate measurement data and the device identifier ofthe measurement device from the equipment interface unit over thenetwork connection to the server computer having the network address;and storing, in the server computer, the received heart rate measurementdata to the user account of the user on the basis of the associationbetween the received device identifier and the corresponding useraccount.

Embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 illustrates a performance monitoring arrangement according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a signalling diagram related to the operation of theperformance monitoring arrangement according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a measurement device according toan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a server computer according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of processing received measurementdata in the server computer according to an embodiment of the invention;and

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an equipment interface unitaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification mayrefer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations, thisdoes not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the sameembodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment.Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provideother embodiments. Furthermore, words “comprising” and “including”should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments toconsist of only those features that have been mentioned and suchembodiments may contain also features/structures that have not beenspecifically mentioned.

FIG. 1 illustrates a performance monitoring arrangement according to anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a user 100 carries outa physical exercise in a gym or in a similar training environment byusing a training device 108, e.g. a treadmill, an exercise cycle, or arowing machine. A measurement device 102 is attached to the user's 100body to measure physiological data during the exercise. The measurementdevice 102 may be a heart rate sensor comprising at least one sensor tomeasure a heart rate of the user 100. The measurement device 102 maytransmit measured heart rate measurement data wirelessly to an equipmentinterface unit 106. A wireless transmission may utilize one of thefollowing short range device-to-device communication technologies:Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Polar-compatible magnetic pulseoperating on 5 kHz radio band, ANT by Dynastream, or IEEE 802.15.4.Other short-range device-to-device or network communication protocolsare equally possible. The short range device-to-device connection mayalso be called a proximity connection because of its short communicationrange. The communication range may be in the order of a couple ofmeters, e.g. less than five meters.

The equipment interface unit 106 may comprise a user interface todisplay the received hear rate measurement data to the user 100. In someexamples, the equipment interface unit 106 may be worn by the user 100,e.g. a wrist device, but according to an embodiment the equipmentinterface unit 106 is fixed or attached to the training device 108. Whenthe user 100 approaches and starts to use the training device 108, theconnection between the measurement device 102 and the equipmentinterface unit 106 may be established automatically, e.g. on the basisof the close proximity detection between the devices 102, 106. Inaddition to displaying or otherwise outputting the received measurementdata, the equipment interface unit 106 may be configured to stream themeasurement data to a server computer 104. In some cases, the equipmentinterface unit 106 cannot establish a direct circuit connection with theserver computer so the connection may be routed through one or morecommunication networks 110. At least some of the networks 110 may bepublic networks, e.g. the Internet. As a consequence, the equipmentinterface unit 106 may be considered as a network node configured tostream the heart rate measurement data to the server computer 104 duringthe physical exercise.

FIG. 2 illustrates a procedure for streaming the heart rate measurementdata from the measurement device 102 to the server computer 104according to an embodiment of the invention. The procedure comprisessteps carried out in the measurement device 102, steps carried out inthe equipment interface unit 106, steps carried out in the servercomputer 104, and steps carried out in a mediating device used by theuser 100 to connect to the server computer 104 and to manage a useraccount stored in the server computer 104. The mediating device may be apersonal computer (PC), but it should be appreciated that the servercomputer 104 may be connected by using any device having an internetconnection, a web browser, and a connection enabling communication withthe measurement device, e.g. a tablet computer, a palm computer, amobile phone, and a gaming console.

The user account may store physiological data of the user 100 and userattributes such as name, gender, age, weight, height, fitness level,training history comprising measurement data and accumulated performancedata, training schedule, maximum oxygen intake (VO2Max), maximum heartrate (HRMax), performance zones (heart rate zones, speed zones), aerobicand anaerobic thresholds. The data stored in the user account may beclassified into personal physiological data and personal training data.The personal physiological data may comprise at least some of thegender, age, weight, height, fitness level, maximum oxygen intake(VO2Max), maximum heart rate (HRMax), performance zones (heart ratezones, speed zones), and aerobic and anaerobic thresholds. The personaltraining data may comprise at least some of the training historycomprising measurement data and accumulated performance data, andtraining schedule.

Referring to FIG. 2, let us now describe the operation of the procedure.Before the exercise, e.g. upon buying the measurement device 102, themeasurement device 102 may be registered to the server computer 104 byusing the mediating device. In step 200, the user 100 accesses his/heruser account stored in the server computer 104 by logging into the useraccount. The user login may follow the principles of a conventionalweb-based authentication, wherein the user inputs a user name and apassword into appropriate fields provided in a web page related to theuser accounts stored in the server computer 104. The step 200 maycomprise operations in the mediating device such as accessing an URL(Uniform Resource Locator) of the server computer and communicating theuser credentials to the server computer 104. The step 200 may alsocomprise operations in the server computer, e.g. transmitting the webpage to the mediating device, receiving the user credentials, andauthenticating the credentials.

When the server computer 104 has granted the user 100 access to his/heruser account, a device identifier of the measurement device 102 may betransferred to the server computer 104 (step 202), and the servercomputer 104 may be configured to associate the device identifier of themeasurement device 102 with the user's 100 user account (step 204). Thismay be carried out by storing the device identifier into the useraccount. Step 202 may be an automatized procedure such that themediating device may automatically upload the device identifier to theserver computer 104 upon being connected to the measurement device andafter the user 100 has accessed the user account. As a consequence, nouser input is necessary. In another embodiment, the user 100 inputs thedevice identifier manually into his/her user account.

In an embodiment, the device identifier is a device address of themeasurement device, e.g. a medium access control (MAC) address. Inanother embodiment, the device identifier is an internet protocoladdress of the measurement device 102. In yet another embodiment, thedevice identifier is a processor identification code of the measurementdevice 102.

In step 206, the mediating device transfers the server computer's 104network address to the measurement device 102, and the measurementdevice 102 stores the server's network address in step 208. The networkaddress may comprise the URL and/or an internet protocol (IP) address ofthe server computer 104, for example. It should be appreciated thatsteps 206 and 208 are optional, and in some embodiments described belowthese steps are omitted.

Steps 200 to 208 may be carried out during a registration phase relatedto the setup of the measurement device 102 and/or the configuration ofthe user account. The registration phase may precede a physical exercisecarried out by the user 100 using the measurement device. Let us nowconsider the operation of the system during the exercise of the user 100wearing the measurement device 102. At the beginning of the physicalexercise with the training device 108, the measurement device 102 pairswith the equipment interface unit 106. The pairing may compriseestablishment of the device-to-device communication connection betweenthe devices 102, 106 (step 210). In connection with the pairing, e.g.during the pairing, the measurement device 102 may transmit its deviceidentifier to the equipment interface unit 106 (Step 212).

In an embodiment, the measurement device 102 transmits also the networkaddress of the server computer 104 to the equipment interface unit 106in step 202. In another embodiment, the equipment interface unit 106derives the server computer's 104 network address from the deviceidentifier of the measurement device on the basis of a databaseproviding a mapping between device identifiers of measurement devicesand associated server computers. For example, the user 100 may haveregistered his/her measurement device 102 to a database of the gym, andthe equipment interface unit 106 may compare the device identifierreceived in step 212 with device identifiers comprised in the database.Upon discovering the device identifier from the database, the equipmentinterface unit may determine a server computer associated with thatdevice identifier and retrieve the network address of the associatedserver computer. In another embodiment, a part of the device identifieridentifies the appropriate server computer. For example, all measurementdevices having an identical part of the device identifier are associatedwith the same server computer. The identical part may comprise adetermined number of first and/or last digits of the device identifier.The database may store the mapping between the device identifier partsand associated server computers, and the equipment interface unit 106may be configured to determine the part of the received deviceidentifier that is used to derive the associated server computer, tosearch the database for a corresponding part of the device identifier,and to retrieve the network address of a server computer associated withthe part of the device identifier. The database may be stored in a localnetwork of the equipment interface unit 106 or in a remote networkaccessible through at least one public network 110. In yet anotherembodiment, the device identifier is any identifier derived from aunique identifier of the measurement device 102 according to adetermined algorithm. For example, the device identifier may be a codecomputed from the device address of the measurement device 102 accordingto a determined logic. As a consequence, the device identifier may be anintermediate identifier sequence computed from the device address of acorresponding real identifier received from the measurement device.

As a result, the equipment interface unit 106 acquires a network addressof the server computer 104 to which transmit any measurement datareceived during the exercise. The equipment interface unit may alreadyinitiate a network connection with the server computer 104 and to mapinternally a device-to-device wireless connection with the measurementdevice 102 to the network connection with the server computer 104.

In step 214, the measurement device measures heart rate measurement databy using at least one of its sensors, processes the measurement data,and transmits the measurement data over the wireless device-to-deviceconnection to the equipment interface unit 106. This procedure may becontinuous and continue for the duration of the exercise. Themeasurement device 102 may transmit the heart rate measurement dataconstantly as it is measured. The actual transmissions may beintermittent, depending on the wireless communication protocol beingused. The heart rate measurement data may be primitive measurement data,e.g. instantaneous heart rate values, average heart rate values averagedover a determined number of heart beats, RR intervals acquired from peakintervals of heart rate signals.

In step 216, the equipment interface unit 216 receives the heart ratemeasurement data, decodes the received heart rate measurement data, andprepares a message comprising the heart rate measurement data and thedevice identifier of the measurement device 102. Then, the equipmentinterface unit 106 may transmit the heart rate measurement data and thedevice identifier of the measurement device to the server computer 104over the network connection. In another embodiment, the deviceidentifier may be provided to the server computer 104 during theestablishment of the network connection between the equipment interfaceunit 106 and the server computer 104.

Upon receiving the heart rate measurement data together with the deviceidentifier of the measurement device 102, the server computer maydetermine a user account to which store the received heart ratemeasurement data on the basis of the device identifier. As the deviceidentifier has already been associated with a specific user account, theserver computer 104 may use the device identifier as the link betweenthe user account and the heart rate measurement data. In step 218, theserver computer searches for a user account having the same deviceidentifier as the device identifier associated with the heart ratemeasurement data received in step 216. Upon discovering the appropriateuser account, the server computer stores the received heart ratemeasurement data to the correct user account in step 218.

The above-described embodiment solves a problem of enabling theequipment interface unit 106 to determine a correct server storing theuser account of the user 100. It also solves a problem of enabling theserver to store the heart rate measurement received from the equipmentinterface unit 106 into a correct user account. It should be noted thatthe equipment interface unit 106 may be used by different users atdifferent times.

According to another point of view, the server computer 104 associatesthe device identifier of the measurement device 102 with thephysiological data and/or user attributes comprised in the user account.The server computer 104 may use this association to process the receivedmeasurement data. For example, the server computer 104 may computeenergy expenditure from the received heart rate measurement data byusing age, weight, and/or gender associated with the measurement device102 providing the heart rate measurement data.

Let us now describe embodiments of the structural and functionalelements comprised in the measurement device 102, equipment interfaceunit 106, and the server computer 104 according to some embodiments ofthe invention with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. FIG. 3 illustrates a blockdiagram of the measurement device 102 according to an embodiment of theinvention. The measurement device may be a device with no userinterface.

Referring to FIG. 3, the measurement device 102 comprises aninput/output (I/O) circuitry 300 configured to provide the measurementdevice 102 with communication capability with other device, e.g. themediating device and/or the equipment interface unit 106. In anembodiment, the I/O circuitry 300 comprises a wireless communicationcircuitry configured to operate according to one of the wirelesscommunication protocols listed above, for example. The wirelesscommunication circuitry may be used to transmit at least the deviceidentifier and the measured heart rate measurement data to the equipmentinterface unit 106 over the wireless connection. In some embodiments,the wireless communication circuitry may be used to receive data and/oroperating parameters, e.g. the server's network address. In otherembodiments, the server's network address may be received over a wiredlink established between the measurement device 102 and the mediatingdevice, e.g. a universal serial bus (USB) connection. In yet anotherembodiment, the I/O circuitry 300 has no reception capability. The I/Ocircuitry 300 may be considered as a communication circuitry handlingthe transmission and, in some embodiments, reception of information.

The measurement device 102 further comprises at least one sensor 304 Thesensor 304 may be a heart rate sensor configured to measure the user's100 heart rate. The heart rate sensor may measure the heart rateelectrically direct from the user's skin, or it may be an optical heartrate sensor having an optical sensor directed towards the user's 100skin. The measurement device 102 may further comprise other sensors,e.g. a motion sensor and/or a stride sensor. The sensor(s) 304 mayoutput raw measurement signals comprising electrical and/or opticalheart rate signals to a processor 302 configured to process the receivedraw measurement signals into the heart rate measurement data. Theprocessor 302 may be configured to carry out signal detection for thereceived raw measurement signals. With respect to the heart ratesignals, the processor 302 may be configured to detect a determinedwaveform in the received heart rate signals and to output a signal tothe I/O circuitry 300 upon detecting the determined waveform. The I/Ocircuitry 300 may then transmit a wireless signal in response to theinput from the processor, and wireless signals transmitted by the I/Ocircuitry represent the detected heart rate measurement data. Dependingon the embodiment, the processor 302 may configure the I/O circuitry 300to transmit the heart rate measurement data as numeric values, or theprocessor 302 may configure the I/O circuitry 300 to transmit thewireless signal with the same rate as the processor 302 detects thedetermined waveform in the raw measurement data.

During the establishment of the wireless connection with the equipmentinterface unit 106, the I/O circuitry 300 may be configured to transmitthe device identifier of the measurement device 102 to the equipmentinterface unit 106. In the embodiments where the measurement device 102receives the server computer's 104 network address during theregistration phase and stores the network address into an addressdatabase 324 stored in a memory 322 of the measurement device 102, theI/O circuitry 300 may be configured to retrieve the network address fromthe address database 324 and transmit the network address to theequipment interface unit 106 during the connection establishment. Insuch embodiments, the user credentials may also be stored in the addressdatabase 324, and the I/O circuitry 300 may be configured to transmitthe user credentials to the equipment interface unit 106 so that theequipment interface unit 106 may log into the user's 100 user accountfor the input of the heart rate measurement data.

The memory 320 may further store a computer program code 326 configuringthe operation of the processor 302 and, in some embodiments, at leastpartly the I/O circuitry 300.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of the server computer 104 accordingto an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the servercomputer 104 comprises a network interface 402 providing the servercomputer with a network connection. The network interface 402 maycomprise a network adapter providing a connection to the Internet. Theserver computer 104 further comprises a processor 420 comprising a useraccount manager circuitry 406. During the registration phase, the useraccount manager circuitry 406 may receive the device identifier of themeasurement device and store the device identifier in the user's 100user account in a user account database 424 stored in a memory unit 422of the server computer 104. During the exercise, the user accountmanager circuitry 406 may receive the device identifier of themeasurement device 102 from the equipment interface unit 106 over thenetwork connection and, in some embodiments, the user credentialsauthenticating the equipment user interface unit 106 to access the userdatabase. Thereafter, the user account manager circuitry 406 may storeany measurement data received from the equipment interface unit 106 tothe correct user account associated with the received device identifier.In some embodiments, the user account manager circuitry 406 maps thereceived device identifier with the equipment interface unit 106 andwith the correct user account at the beginning of the exercise and,during the exercise, the user account manager 406 needs not to receivethe device identifier from the equipment interface unit 106 inconnection with all the transmissions. Instead, it may use the mappingbetween the equipment interface unit 106 and the correct user accountcarried out at the beginning of the exercise through the received deviceidentifier and store the received measurement data into the correct useraccount by using an identifier of the equipment interface unit receivedas a source address in connection with all data transmissionstransferred over the network connection. In another embodiment, theequipment interface unit 106 transmits the device identifier of themeasurement device 102 in all the transmissions transmitted over thenetwork connection, so the user account manager circuitry 406 needs notto make the additional mapping. As a consequence, the user accountmanager circuitry 406 may directly use the device identifier comprisedin the transmission to determine the correct user account to which tostore the measurement data. When the server computer 104 receivesseveral types of measurement data, e.g. heart rate data or differenttypes of heart rate data (heart rate, heart rate variability), speeddata, etc., the user account manager 402 may classify the receivedmeasurement data and store the measurement data into appropriateclasses.

In an embodiment, the server computer 104 is configured to carry outreal-time computation for the received heart rate measurement data andto return computation results to the equipment interface unit 106 inreal-time during the exercise. The computation may be carried out by aheart rate data processor 404. The real-time requirement may be definedas that the server computer 104 processes the heart rate measurementdata into advanced performance data as soon as possible, considering thephysical restrictions of the server computer, e.g. processing delay anddata transfer delay. As a consequence, the server computer 104 may tryto avoid adding any intentional delay to the provision of the advancedperformance data. Let us now consider the operation of the servercomputer in this respect with reference to FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, the user account manager circuitry 406 receives thedevice identifier and the heart rate measurement data from the equipmentinterface unit 106 in block 500. The user account manager circuitry 406may store the received heart rate measurement data into the correct useraccount and, additionally, output the heart rate measurement data to theheart rate data processor 404. In block 502, the heart rate dataprocessor 404 computes the advanced performance data from the receivedheart rate measurement data.

The advanced performance data may comprise total energy expenditureduring the exercise, energy expenditure rates during the exercise,energy expenditure in metabolic component levels, such as fats,carbohydrates and/or proteins. In an embodiment, fitness parameters(e.g. VO2max value known also as maximal oxygen uptake) are calculatedby using the heart rate and/or heart rate variability. In this case, theadvanced exercise-related data comprises a fitness parameter. Thefitness parameter may be presented in any unit, such as activity unit,from which a fitness parameter may be derived. An example of relatingactivity and fitness parameter is a Jackson formula, which provides arelationship between the maximum oxygen uptake and estimated physicalactivity. In an embodiment, a relaxation estimate is calculated by usingthe heart rate variability or a parameter proportional to the heart ratevariability. In this case, the advanced performance data may include arelaxation estimate. The relaxation estimate may also be calculated fromthe power spectrum of an electrocardiography (ECG) derived from thereceived heart rate measurement data. In an embodiment of the invention,a relaxation estimate may is obtained from the trend of heart rate valuewhen a person is a in a recovery phase after high-load exercise phase.The relaxation estimate may characterize the physical or mentalrelaxation of a person.

In an embodiment, a training load is calculated on the basis ofmechanical stress derived by using the heart rate measurement data and,optionally other measurement data, e.g. motion data and/or pressureinformation (indicating air/water pressure). The training loadcharacterizes the effect of the training in terms of physical load andthe resulting need for recovery. In this case, the advanced performancedata may include a training load parameter or an associated recoveryneed parameter.

In an embodiment, user-specific heart rate zones, such as that based onheart rate variability, are calculated by using the heart ratemeasurement data.

In an embodiment, a recovery estimate is calculated by using the heartrate measurement data. In this case, the advanced exercise-related datamay comprise a recovery estimate. The recovery estimate is a parameterwhich characterizes the user's recovery status. The recovery estimatemay be presented by time required for a desired level of recovery.

In an embodiment, a dehydration estimate is calculated by using theheart rate measurement data. In this case, the advanced performance datamay comprise a dehydration estimate. The dehydration estimate may bepresented with the amount of beverage or beverage component, such aswater or sodium, required to obtain a desired hydration state. In thisembodiment, air temperature data measured by a temperature sensorcomprised in the measurement device 102 may be used as an additionalinput to the computation of the dehydration estimate.

Other algorithms known in the field of exercise-related algorithms maybe calculated in block 502 as well. Block 502 may also (oralternatively) include comparison of the (processed) measurement datawith exercise-guidance parameters stored in the user account as atraining program. The current heart rate may be compared with heart ratetargets defined for the exercise in the user account. Other measurementdata or higher level performance data calculated in block 502 may becompared with corresponding targets stored in the user account so as todetermine whether or not the workout follows the predeterminedinstructions defined in the user account. In these cases, the advancedperformance data may comprise indication signals that carry informationon the state of the current exercise relative to the predeterminedexercise schedule. The indication signal may give rise to audible orvisible alarm in the equipment interface unit 106.

In block 504, the heart rate data processor 404 outputs the computeradvanced performance data to the network interface 402, and the networkinterface 402 transmits the advanced performance data to the equipmentinterface unit 106 over the network connection.

The memory 422 of the server computer 104 may further store a computerprogram code 426 configuring the operation of the processor 420 and, insome embodiments, at least partly the network interface 402. In someembodiments the user account manager circuitry 406 and the heart ratedata processor 404 are realized by computer programs carried out by theprocessor 420. Accordingly, they may be understood as not to formdedicated physical circuitries but to use at least partly the samephysical registers, cache memories, and logic units of the processor420.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of the equipment interface unit 106according to an embodiment of the invention. The equipment interfaceunit may comprise two communication interfaces: one for thedevice-to-device connection with the measurement device 102 and one forthe network connection with the server computer 104. The communicationinterface used for communicating with the measurement device 102 iscalled a wireless interface 602. The wireless interface may utilize oneof the above-described wireless communication protocols for thedevice-to-device connection with the measurement device 102 in order toreceive the heart rate measurement data, the device identifier of themeasurement device 102 and, in some embodiments, the network address ofthe server computer 104. If the system and the equipment interface unit106 use the device identifier to derive the network address of theserver computer 104, the wireless interface 602 may forward the receiveddevice identifier to a connection manager circuitry 600 and,additionally, use the device identifier to identify the measurementdevice 102 in the device-to-device communication according to theapplied wireless communication protocol. The connection managercircuitry 600 may then search an address database 624 storingassociations between device identifiers and server computers for thenetwork address associated with the measurement device 102. Uponacquiring the correct network address from the address database 624, theconnection manager instructs a network interface 604 forming the othercommunication interface of the equipment interface unit 106 to establisha network connection with the server computer 104 having the acquirednetwork address. The connection manager circuitry 600 may then map thedevice-to-device connection between the wireless interface 602 and themeasurement device 102 with the network connection between the networkinterface 604 and the server computer 104.

If the system and the equipment interface unit 106 use the networkaddress provided by the measurement device 102 to derive the networkaddress of the server computer 104, the wireless interface 602 mayforward the received device identifier to the connection managercircuitry 600 and use the device identifier only to identify themeasurement device 102 in the device-to-device communication accordingto the applied wireless communication protocol. The connection managercircuitry 600 may then instruct the network interface 604 to establishthe network connection with the server computer 104 having the networkaddress received from the measurement device 102. The connection managercircuitry 600 may then map the device-to-device connection between thewireless interface 602 and the measurement device 102 with the networkconnection between the network interface 604 and the server computer104.

Upon receiving the heart rate measurement data from the wirelessinterface 602, the connection manager circuitry 600 may forward thereceived heart rate measurement data to the network interface 604 orinstruct the wireless interface 602 to forward the heart ratemeasurement data directly to the network interface. If the wirelessinterface 602 and/or the network interface operates multiple connectionssimultaneously, the connection manager circuitry 600 may use the mappingto keep the connections of the wireless interface 602 linked withcorrect network connections operated by the network interface 604.

The wireless interface 602 or the connection manager circuitry 600 mayapply the received heart rate measurement data additionally to aprocessing circuitry 610 configured to process the received heart ratemeasurement data and compute, for example, the heart rate of the user100. The heart rate measurement data may comprise heart rate intervalsthat may or may not be averaged over a few heart rate intervals, e.g.five or less intervals, in the measurement device 102. The processingcircuitry 610 may then output the computed heart rate to a userinterface 612 for display to the user 100. Similarly, the processingcircuitry may process other physiological measurement data receivedthrough the wireless interface 602 and/or measured internally in theequipment interface unit 106, e.g. by at least one sensor 614 comprisedin the equipment measurement unit. The sensor(s) 614 provided(optionally) in the equipment measurement unit 106 may be fixed orattached to the training device 108, and they may comprise at least oneof the following: a grip sensor provided in a grip bar etc. andconfigured to measure physiological data from user's 100 hand(s)gripping the sensor, a cyclometer or a cadence sensor provided in atraining bicycle, etc.

In the embodiments where the equipment interface unit 106 measures thephysiological parameters of the user 100 by using the internal sensor(s)614 in addition to receiving the measurement data from the externalmeasurement device 102, the processing circuitry may apply theinternally acquired measurement data to the connection manager circuitry600, and the connection manager circuitry 600 may configure the networkinterface 604 to transmit the internal measurement data to the servercomputer 104 together with the heart rate measurement data received bythe wireless interface 602. As a consequence, the connection managercircuitry 600 may map the internal measurement data to the same networkconnection used for transferring the measurement data acquired from themeasurement device 102.

The user interface 612 may comprise a display screen, a loudspeaker,and/or an input device in the form of one or more buttons or switches,keypad etc. In some embodiments, the hardware user interface 612 isomitted.

A memory 622 of the equipment interface unit 106 may store the addressdatabase 624 and a computer program code 626 configuring the operationof the connection manager circuitry 600, the processing circuitry 610and, in some embodiments, at least partly the user interface 612, thenetwork interface 604 and the wireless interface 602.

The equipment interface unit 106 may be provided in the training device108, or it may be a data router, e.g. a wireless access point. In thelatter embodiment, the processing circuitry 610, sensor(s) 614, and theuser interface may be omitted from the equipment interface unit 106. Theuser interface unit may be provided indirectly through computerconnected with the data router over a web interface.

As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of thefollowing: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations such asimplementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry; (b)combinations of circuits and software and/or firmware, such as (asapplicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or processor cores; or(ii) portions of processor(s)/software including digital signalprocessor(s), software, and at least one memory that work together tocause an apparatus to perform specific functions; and (c) circuits, suchas a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requiresoftware or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware isnot physically present.

This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in thisapplication. As a further example, as used in this application, the term“circuitry” would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (ormultiple processors) or portion of a processor, e.g. one core of amulti-core processor, and its (or their) accompanying software and/orfirmware. The term “circuitry” would also cover, for example and ifapplicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit, anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/or afield-programmable grid array (FPGA) circuit for the apparatus accordingto an embodiment of the invention.

The processes or methods described in FIGS. 2 and 5 may also be carriedout in the form of a computer process defined by a computer program. Thecomputer program may be in source code form, object code form, or insome intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier,which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Suchcarriers include transitory and/or non-transitory computer media, e.g. arecord medium, computer memory, read-only memory, electrical carriersignal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package.Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may beexecuted in a single electronic digital processing unit or it may bedistributed amongst a number of processing units.

Embodiments of the present invention are applicable to trainingmonitoring systems. The protocols used, e.g. the communicationprotocols, develop constantly and such development may require extrachanges to the described embodiments. Therefore, all words andexpressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended toillustrate, not to restrict, the embodiment. It will be obvious to aperson skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventiveconcept can be implemented in various ways. The invention and itsembodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may varywithin the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for processing heart rate measurementdata measured during a physical exercise of a user, the systemcomprising a server computer comprising at least one processor and atleast one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at leastone memory and the computer program code are configured, with the atleast one processor, to cause the server computer to: associate, duringa registration procedure for a measurement device of a user, a deviceidentifier of the measurement device with a user account of the userstored in the server computer; receive a device identifier withreal-time heart rate measurement data over a network connection duringthe physical exercise; identify the user's measurement device from thereceived device identifier; and perform real-time computation for thereceived heart rate measurement data and store the processed heart ratemeasurement data to the user account of the user on the basis of theassociation between the received device identifier and the correspondinguser account, wherein the system further comprises and equipmentinterface unit arranged to communicate with the server computer over thenetwork connection and with said measurement device over a wirelessconnection, to receive from the measurement device, the deviceidentifier of the measurement device, a network address of the servercomputer, and heart rate measurement data, and to forward the heart ratemeasurement data and the device identifier of the measurement deviceover the network connection to the server computer having the networkaddress.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising said measurementdevice attachable to the user's body and comprising: at least one sensorfor measuring said heart rate measurement data from the user's body; anda wireless communication circuitry configured to transmit the heart ratemeasurement data and the device identifier over a wireless connection toan equipment interface unit connected to the server computer.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein said measurement device is configured toacquire and store a network address of the server computer during theregistration procedure and to transmit the network address of the servercomputer to the equipment interface unit in connection with the heartrate measurement data over the wireless connection.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the equipment interface unit is arranged to store anaddress database linking device identifiers of measurement devices withserver computer network addresses, to determine the network address ofthe server computer from the received device identifier of themeasurement device on the basis of said link between the network addressof the server computer and the received device identifier of themeasurement device in the database.
 5. The system of claim 1, whereinthe equipment interface unit comprises at least one sensor arranged tomeasure physiological measurement data related to the user during theexercise, wherein the equipment interface unit is further configured totransmit the physiological measurement data together with the deviceidentifier of the user's measurement device to the server computer overthe same network connection through which the heart rate measurementdata is transmitted.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the servercomputer is configured to compute advanced performance data from thereceived real-time heart rate measurement data and to transmit theadvanced performance data to the network connection in real time, theadvanced performance data comprising at least one of a fitnessparameter, relaxation estimate, recovery estimate, and dehydrationestimate.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising the measurementdevice being wearable by the user and comprising: at least one sensorfor measuring said heart rate measurement data from the user's body; anda wireless communication circuitry configured to transmit the heart ratemeasurement data and the device identifier over a wireless connection tothe equipment interface unit connected to the server computer, themeasurement device being configured to acquire and store a networkaddress of the server computer during the registration procedure and totransmit the network address of the server computer to the equipmentinterface unit in connection with the heart rate measurement data overthe wireless connection.
 8. An apparatus comprising: a wirelessinterface configured to provide a wireless device-to-device connectionwith a measurement device; a network interface configured to provide theapparatus with a network connection; at least one processor; and atleast one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at leastone memory and the computer program code are configured, with the atleast one processor, to cause the apparatus to: receive, from ameasurement device attachable to the user's body at a beginning of anexercise carried out by a user, a device identifier of the measurementdevice, a network address of a server computer, and heart ratemeasurement data; and cause the network interface to transmit the deviceidentifier with the heart rate measurement data through the networkconnection to the network address of the server computer during theexercise, wherein the server computer performs real-time computation forthe heart rate measurement data and uses the device identifier to storethe heart rate measurement data to a correct user account.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory and the computerprogram code are configured, with the at least one processor, to causethe apparatus to transmit the measurement data to the server computer inreal time, as it is being received through the wireless interface. 10.The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the memory is arranged to store anaddress database linking device identifiers of measurement devices withserver computer network addresses, and wherein the at least one memoryand the computer program code are configured, with the at least oneprocessor, to cause the apparatus to determine the network address ofthe server computer from the received device identifier of themeasurement device on the basis of said link between the network addressof the server computer and the received device identifier of themeasurement device in the database.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8,further comprising at least one sensor arranged to measure physiologicalmeasurement data related to the user during the exercise, and whereinthe at least one memory and the computer program code are configured,with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to cause thenetwork interface to transmit the physiological measurement datatogether with the device identifier of the user's measurement device tothe server computer over the same network connection through which theheart rate measurement data is transmitted.
 12. A method for processingheart rate measurement data measured during a physical exercise of auser, the method comprising: associating, in a server computer during aregistration procedure for a measurement device of a user, a deviceidentifier of the measurement device with a user account of the userstored in the server computer; receiving, in the server computer, adevice identifier and real-time heart rate measurement data over anetwork connection; identifying, in the server computer, the user'smeasurement device from the received device identifier; receiving, in anequipment interface unit over a wireless connection with the measurementdevice, the device identifier of the measurement device, a networkaddress of the server computer, and heart rate measurement data;forwarding the heart rate measurement data with the device identifier ofthe measurement device during the physical exercise from the equipmentinterface unit over the network connection to the server computer havingthe network address; and performing, in the server computer, real-timecomputation for the received heart rate measurement data and storing theprocessed heart rate measurement data to the user account of the user onthe basis of the association between the received device identifier andthe corresponding user account.
 13. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising: measuring said heart rate measurement data from the user'sbody by the measurement device; and transmitting the heart ratemeasurement data and the device identifier over a wireless connectionfrom the measurement device to the equipment interface unit connected tothe server computer.
 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:acquiring the network address of the server computer in the measurementdevice during the registration procedure; storing the network address ina memory of the measurement device; and transmitting the network addressof the server computer from the measurement device to the equipmentinterface unit in connection with the heart rate measurement data overthe wireless connection.
 15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:storing in the equipment interface unit an address database linkingdevice identifiers of measurement devices with server computer networkaddresses; and determining the network address of the server computerfrom the received device identifier of the measurement device on thebasis of said link between the network address of the server computerand the received device identifier of the measurement device in thedatabase.
 16. The method of claim 12, further comprising in theequipment interface unit: measuring with at least one sensorphysiological measurement data related to the user during the exercise;and transmitting the physiological measurement data together with thedevice identifier of the user's measurement device to the servercomputer over the same network connection through which the heart ratemeasurement data is transmitted.
 17. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising in the server computer: computing advanced performance datafrom the received real-time heart rate measurement data; andtransmitting the advanced performance data to the network connection inreal time, the advanced performance data comprising at least one of afitness parameter, relaxation estimate, recovery estimate, anddehydration estimate.
 18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:acquiring the network address of the server computer during theregistration procedure in the measurement device wearable by the user;storing the network address in a memory of the measurement device; andtransmitting the network address of the server computer from themeasurement device to the equipment interface unit in connection withthe heart rate data over the wireless connection.